Single Review Roundup: February 9, 2025

RVSHVD easily wins the day.

 

“Dope Boy”

RVSHVD

Written by Ned Cameron, Micah Carpenter, and RVSHVD

JK: It’s Rashad needed more of the straightforward country tunes that RVSHVD does so well, and “Dope Boy,” the first single from the deluxe edition of his album, fully delivers on that. The production on this reminds me, of all things and I couldn’t be more delighted to say this, of Tanya Tucker’s “It’s A Little Too Late.”

What’s great about this is how RVSHVD is savvy enough to know that his very existence in the country space is an act of provocation. So he leans the whole way into that with “Dope Boy,” with a story that’s over-the-top in how a not insignificant swath of the country audience stereotypes the black community. 

The narrative is preposterous on the face of it– some friends are sitting around a bar, talking about their dreams and aspirations, and one of the friends declares that he wants to be such a successful drug dealer that he can pay cash for a new Rolls Royce– and RVSHVD clearly knows that. It’s practically a dare to the country genre’s reigning white supremacists to lock their doors and clutch their pearls, and it’s hilarious for what it is. I’m not saying it’s a true “response” record to Eric Church’s still-rancid “Homeboy,” but it’s not not that, either. RVSHVD already demonstrated his talent for country conventions, but now he’s shown that he can use those talents to subvert those conventions in the most audacious ways. A

KJC: I can’t remember the last time a record made me grin like this one does.

RVSHVD pulls off an Old 8×10-era Randy Travis/All the People are Talkin’-era John Anderson mashup, all in service of an urban lingo rewrite of “Redneck Woman.”

This man understands nineties country tropes well enough to subvert them, making them interesting again with his fresh point of view. It’s a reprieve from the recent wave of nineties country homages that amount to little more than stenography by less capable vocalists. 

This one will be on repeat all year. A

“Weren’t For the Wind”

Ella Langley

Written by Johnny Clawson, Ella Langley, and Joybeth Taylor

KJC: Speaking of stenography by less capable vocalists, here’s a mid-tier Kim Richey mid tempo nomad tale without any of the evocative singing that Richey used to elevate her own material.

We’ve heard this so many times before. A young woman has a restless spirit and has to chase her dreams out on the road. Langley does a capable job as a writer and a singer here, but by the end, I remain unconvinced that there’s anywhere notable that she’s headed, or anything worthwhile that she’s leaving behind. C

JK: If the mainstream’s allotment for women is going to remain “Lainey Wilson + 1” for the foreseeable future, then I suppose Langley is the most talented of the obvious contenders for that one spot. 

I don’t know if “weren’t for the wind” is the best showcase for that talent, though. For a current radio single, it’s actually quite good– I like how its momentum matches the narrator’s restlessness– but Langley’s hungover boasted a slew of tracks with a more distinct point-of-view and with more clever songwriting than this, which was added to the deluxe edition of her debut. 

This is accessible and pleasant, and I’m not at all surprised that it’s streaming well and getting positive radio callout scores, and it’s already shaping up to be Langley’s first solo hit. And that’s fine. At least she’s singing on-key on the studio cut, which seems to be the current bar for that “Wilson +1” spot. Langley has just got a whole lot more substance to offer than this. B

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